Two Weeks Notice
by DarylDixon'sgirl1985
Summary: Barty Crouch Jr. needs a fiancée, and for him the answer's simple: his fiercely intelligent, handsome assistant, James Potter, should play the role! But pretending to be Barty's fiancée threatens to ruin the life James worked so hard for. How will he keep his head when he's losing his heart to his frustratingly attractive new boss?


**Hey everyone. This story was brought to you by Meet Cute March on Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. This was written for day number 2. I used the pairing of Barty Crouch Jr./James Potter. I hope you all enjoy the first chapter of Two Weeks Notice.**

The words his father had said to him rang through Barty Crouch Jr.'s head as he sat at his desk like they were a record on loop. In fact the whole conversation they had was playing over and over again in his head.

_"You should have a wife by now, Barty," his father had said to him last night as they sat in the drawing room with a couple of drinks. "You're not getting any younger Barty and your mother and I want grandchildren."_

_"But what if I don't want to marry?" he'd asked his father obstinately. "What if..."_

_"Do you want to break your mother's heart son. She's been waiting for you to get married since you were old enough to date. But every year you disappoint her by not bringing home a nice woman and settling down."_

_A delicate pink blush crawled it's way up Barty's face. He' known since he was old enough to be attracted to other people that was he attracted to other boys. He'd even lost his virginity to another boy in his sixth year. But he how did he tell his father this. He knew that he'd not only disappoint his mother but also his father with this news._

_"What's wrong with you, boy?" Barty Crouch Sr. snarled at his son. "Why does this conversation embarrass you?"_

_"It's not that this conversation embarrasses me, Father." Barty sighed trying to think of a way to tell his father about his sexuality without getting yelled at for it. "What if I am unable to give you grandchildren?"_

_"What are you saying?"_

_"Barty," his mother chided his father, "let your son talk to you." She turned Barty Jr. with a small smile on her face. "What are you trying to tell us, son?"_

_"I'm not going to be able to give you grandchildren," he stated plainly. _

_"Why?"_

_"Because I'm attracted to other men," he told his parents without blinking. He knew it was true because he found himself strangely attracted to his handsome assistant James Potter. _

_The older Barty had laughed. "You're just saying that so that you won't have to marry the woman that your mother and I pick out for you. Is that what this is?"_

_"No, Father. I'm actually engaged to...to another man. His name is James. He's very handsome and he's a pureblood. He works with me at the..."_

The conversation had taken a turn for the worse at this point. His father had said a lot of horrible stuff to him and had even threatened to force Barty to marry the person they'd chosen for him. Some horrible girl named Eloise or something like that from the family of one their friends. It was his mother who had saved the day. She said that if Barty was happy that so was she and that seemed to somewhat calm his father down. She also said to invite his fiance to come over and meet them which present a huge problem seeing as James didn't know he was now playing the part of Barty's fiancee.

Pushing the button on his intercom he quickly said, "James, I need you to come to my office. Right now." As he sat back in his chair he could almost kick himself. He should have thought this through more than he had before spouting out the first thing that came to his mind. Then again he should have actually used his brain instead of thinking with a certain part of his body that tended to get him into more trouble than not.

The door opened breaking Barty out his thoughts and there stood James Potter in all his sexy glory. The dark haired hazel eyed man stood in the doorway a curious look on his face. It looked like he was saying something.

"Did you hear what I said, Boss?" James asked concern lacing his voice.

"What?" Barty asked trying to stop his eyes from traveling up and down James Potter's body. "No. I did not hear what you were saying, James. I'm sorry but can you repeat that."

"I was saying that you have an appoint with your father in about an hour," James sighed. He handed over a packet of papers that looked like they'd just been crisply printed. "The project that your father gave you about a week ago. Everything you need to know about your part is in that packet there." He then remembered that wasn't the reason he'd been called into Barty's office. "What did you need to see me about, sir?" He pressed his jacket down nervously. He hoped he didn't do anything to upset his boss. This was one of the best jobs he'd had so far.

"Please take a seat, James," Barty said motioning for the chair across the desk from him.

Sitting James wondered if he was about to get into trouble. This was what Professor McGonagall used to do when she was about to ream him and the other Marauders out for one of their pranks. But he hadn't pulled a prank at work. He'd never do that. He was after all a professional when he came to work.

"Don't be nervous." Barty's smiled as he watched the nervous bespectacled man fidget in his seat. "You did absolutely nothing wrong. In fact I wish more of assistants were like you." Now it was time for the hard part. "But I need your help with something quite personal in nature."

"Like what?" James said curiosity coloring his voice as he watched Barty.

"You know I would never condone lying about something unless it was for a good cause," Barty said sounded as though he'd rather not say what was actually going on. "Right?"

"Of course. But how can I help you on a personal matter if I don't know what it is?"

"I need you to help me plan my wedding," Barty stated bluntly.

"I didn't know you were dating anyone. Congratulations, Barty...sir." James cocked his head to the side. "Shouldn't your family be involved in helping you and your wife plan the wedding and not your assistant?"

"That the other thing I wanted to talk to you about. I told my parents that you and I were getting married."

James Potter spluttered nervously. He had a girlfriend at home that would have something to say about Barty's little plan. "There's one little problem with that," he pointed out. "I'm not gay. I have a girlfriend. When were you planning on telling me about this?"

A pink tint rose to Barty's face. "I know that this is asking a lot from you, James," he told the other man trying not to let the hurt he felt color his voice. "But there are ways to pull this off without it being binding."

"Like?"

"We go through with the wedding but don't consummate the marriage," Barty told him. "That way after everything is said and done we can go and get the thing annulled if you want. But I we will need to be married for a while. Also how long of an engagement do you want? What kind of a wedding?"

"Barty, I haven't agreed to this plan of yours."

"If you agree I will do anything you want. I will give you anything you want. I just need you to come through for me on this though. My parents are going to be expecting you for dinner tomorrow night."

"What?"

"My parents are expecting to see you at dinner at their house tomorrow night."

"I guess I have no choice but to play along with this little plot. So I guess we're going to have to come up with a back story for our relationship. Aren't we?"

"A what?"

"A backstory. How we met? When we started dating? What attracted us to each other?"

Barty hadn't thought about that part of it. He know how to cook up a good back story for their relationship. A buzz sounded from the intercom on his desk.

"Mr Crouch, it's Tony from the lobby," the voice on the other side of intercom said. "Your mother is here for lunch with you and your fiancee. I didn't now you were dating anyone, sir. Congratulations."

Barty cursed himself mentally. Of course his mother would want to come over a head of time and get to know his fiancee. "We'll meet her in the lobby," Barty told Tony. He turned James. "What are we going to do?"

"Just follow my lead," James sighed knowing this was probably not going to end well. He knew very well how to lie about things to those in power. He'd spent his whole Hogwarts career lying about being an Animagus after all.

The ride down to the lobby in Barty's private elevator was quite. Barty's heart was in his mouth the whole time. Would James help him out? Would the other man sell him out? James Potter walked ahead of him as they approached his mother. Barty couldn't help letting his eyes travel to the other man's butt. He found that one of James Potter's most attractive features.

"Mrs. Crouch," James called out cheerfully, "you are just as beautiful as Barty said you'd be. I'm his fiancee James. James Potter." He held his hand out for the small woman with greying blonde hair.

"It's nice to meet you, James," Barty's mother said shaking the young man's hand. "I wish that I could say Barty had told us more about you than you were handsome but my son isn't really one for sharing."

"Isn't that the truth?" James snorted. "Well, Barty's, gone and booked us a table at La Petite Pumpkin for lunch." James threw his arm around Mrs. Crouch's shoulder leading her out of the building while through a smirk Barty's way. If he was going to play the part of Barty's fiancee Barty was going to pay for a good lunch at least. Hopefully they could pull this off.

**I hope you all enjoyed the first chapter of Two Weeks Notice.**


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